Seoul: The government provided an average of 9.26 million won (US$6,570) in social services to each household in 2024, government data showed Tuesday. According to Yonhap News Agency, social in-kind transfer income reached 9.26 million won per household in 2024, marking a 0.4 percent increase from the previous year, based on data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

This allocation constituted 12.5 percent of the nation's average household income of 74.27 million won, reflecting a decrease from 13.6 percent in 2022 and 12.8 percent in 2023. Social in-kind transfers encompass free goods and services, such as public healthcare, education, childcare, and subsidized meals, supplied to households by governments or nonprofit organizations.

Medical services formed the largest component at 4.88 million won, with education following at 3.77 million won and childcare at 320,000 won. Households in the lowest income bracket received 7.27 million won in social services, representing 46.8 percent of their total income.

In contrast, households in the highest income bracket benefited from 12.53 million won, which equated to 7.2 percent of their income. The Gini coefficient, an important indicator of income inequality, was calculated at 0.281 when social in-kind transfers were included in disposable income. This figure showed a reduction of 0.044 points compared to the measure based solely on disposable income.